Guthrie Insurance Blog

ICBC busts B.C. man for auto insurance fraud after he brags about it on Facebook

12/02/2012

Global Administrator

A British Columbia man learned the hard way that if you're going to commit insurance fraud, bragging about in on Facebook is not the wisest thing to do.

Corbin Joseph was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay more than $18,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to fraud and obstruction of justice in connection with an ICBC claim, an ICBC release says. He rolled his vehicle on a rural road. At the time of the crash, he was prohibited from driving, so in order to collect insurance on the vehicle, which was a total loss, he convinced a friend to tell ICBC that she was the driver, the ICBC release continues.

"The story came apart after ICBC's special investigations unit became aware that Joseph was bragging on his Facebook page that he had rolled his truck after drinking at a New Year's Eve party and subsequently got a big payout from ICBC," the release says."When SIU officers interviewed his friends, they admitted that Joseph drove to and from the party, and had in fact put the vehicle in the ditch twice that night."

When Joseph learned that SIU officers were interviewing the woman who initially claimed she was driving, he sent her phone texts and Facebook messages offering her considerable sums of money and legal assistance if she stuck to the original lie. She refused and instead provided investigators with copies of those messages.

"Joseph subsequently admitted to everything he'd lied about, and that he had been motivated by the $18,350 insurance payout for his truck. In addition to the fine and the restitution order, the Provincial Court judge handed down a three-month conditional sentence and put Joseph on probation for six months.